Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Six Minnesota communities receive honors from League
of Minnesota Cities

City-administered
initiatives involving public safety education, service collaboration, emergency
medical training, and promoting economic development through the arts were
recognized today when the League of Minnesota Cities announced City of
Excellence Award winners for 2013. The awards were presented today at the
League’s Annual Conference in St. Paul. To compete for consideration as a City of Excellence, cities nominated a
project, program, or initiative that was administered to achieve one or more of
the following: improvement of the quality of a city service, development of an
effective or innovative way to solve an old or common problem, modification of
a program from another community or organization to fit city needs, discovery
of a way to save the city money without compromising service results, and/or
creative involvement of city staff or citizens in making a decision.Winning entries were chosen in three population categories and in a special
topical category. A description of each winning nomination follows.

The Ticket Education program is a
collaborative effort between the Centennial Lakes Police Department, its
joint-powers cities of Centerville, Circle Pines, and Lexington, and its
appointed prosecutors. The program promotes public safety education on the web.
Low-level offenders go to class instead of court, and the offender’s citation
is dismissed upon graduation from a web-based class. The program gives law enforcement
officials a one-on-one opportunity to tailor education specific to the offense
on the offender’s citation. The educational aspect of the program has proven to
be a better enforcement mechanism than the traditional low-level ticket
enforcement. Additionally, the program has the unexpected benefit of being a
friendlier way to police low-level offenses. Officers found that once offenders
learned of the option to take a class instead of going to court, their
interaction with officers became more relaxed.

Population 5,000 to 19,999

City of St. Anthony Village – Collaborating for a
Strong Future

With a renewed emphasis on forging a network of collaboration with numerous
government entities, the City of St. Anthony has been able to build
relationships that enable the city to maintain and expand a variety of services
throughout city departments that may have otherwise not existed. Examples of
collaborations initiated in 2012 include providing complete financial services
like payroll for the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization and utility
billing for the City of Birchwood Village, contracting human resources with the
City of New Brighton, contracting planning and engineering services with
certified professionals, providing a fueling station for the City of New
Brighton’s fleet, and participating in mutual fire safety training with the
cities of Columbia Heights and Fridley. This new emphasis on collaboration has proved to be fundamental to the city’s
mission of providing existing and expanded services, particularly in an era of
diminishing resources and increased demand.

Population 20,000+

City of Woodbury – “Take Heart” Woodbury

While the City of Woodbury’s
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team takes great pride in its fast response
time, a single minute can be the determining factor between life and death for
those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. With this in mind, the City of
Woodbury’s Public Safety Department created an aggressive, proactive initiative
with a lofty goal of training 7,000 city residents in the administration of CPR
within a single year. That goal was reached in February of 2013 due, in part,
to the commitment of community and staff leaders, including the City’s EMS
commander and two paid, on-call firefighters. The success of the project ensures
that at least 10 percent of Woodbury’s population can now perform “Hands Only”
CPR before additional medical services responders arrive at the scene of a
resident experiencing cardiac arrest. An additional benefit of the program is
that the collaborative effort strengthened city relationships with other
organizations and residents in the community.

Topical category – Promoting Economic Development

City of Chatfield – Center for the Arts

In early 2010, the Chatfield Economic Development Authority determined that one
of the best economic development efforts it could pursue would be to acquire a
set of buildings that had formerly been used as a school, repurpose them into
an art/cultural center, and breathe new vitality into the downtown area. The
primary purposes of the center were identified as retention of current city
residents, attraction of new ones, and creation of a stronger social fabric and
economic vitality within the community. City officials believed that a fully
functioning center would cause supporting and complementary businesses to
develop in the historic downtown area, and initiated the project with that goal
in mind. The first phase of this project – which includes introduction of the concept to
community residents, gaining public acceptance, building collaborations, and
developing a funding base that indicates feasibility – was recently completed,
and the project is currently proceeding on schedule.

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